The applicants proposed to take advantage of speed and convenience of the popular microwave oven, along with safety, high lighted by a recent study demonstrating that burn injuries of children from use of microwave ovens are far fewer and less severe than those from conventional ovens and stoves. The applicants, however, pointed out that there is a class of injuries that is more frequently encountered with microwave ovens, specifically, scald burns of the mouth and throat caused by the ingestion of hot fluids. This problem is particularly acute in the feeding of infants with formula heated in a microwave oven. The principal objective of this research is to test the concept of a safer baby bottle system comprised of a bottle with internal vanes for improved heat distribution, a spring microwaveable turn-table to rotate the bottle and mix its contents during heating and warning message printed with a thermochromic ink on the surface of the bottle that alerts the care giver when the formula is too hot for ingestion. The critical temperature setting for the thermochromic ink as well as the optimum combinations of power and time setting for gentle warming will be determined using a newly designed liquid crystal thermometer.
